Tom Harris, also known as The Hill Country Gardener, is a Master Gardener certified by the State of Texas, a Master Pruner certified by the San Antonio Botanical Garden, and a founder and volunteer for the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas (GVST).

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

Fertilizing: NOW it’s time

I know, I know. You’ve been very patient just waiting to get that fertilizer on the grass. Well, it’s finally time to do it. It doesn’t look like we’re gonna have another freeze, the ground has warmed up quite a bit, the grass is growing and you’ve cut it a couple of times, and the mesquite trees are all leafed out. So get to it, bubba. Now the grass can use the fertilizer. You can use almost any slow-release lawn fertilizer you want to use, just be sure it says “slow-release” or “timed-release” or something like that on the bag … and please remember to follow the directions on the bag. MORE IS NOT BETTER.

It just takes a pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn and that’s not very much — you probably won’t be able to see much of it in the grass if you do it right.

So how do you get one pound of nitrogen out of a bag that only has 15 percent nitrogen in it? Probably oughta go ask one of your kids of grandkids to help you with the math. 15 percent of a 40 pound bag is about 6 pounds; i.e., only 6 pounds of that bag is actual nitrogen. So how much does it take of this stuff? Well, since only 6 of those 40 pounds is actual nitrogen, it’s gonna take about 6.5+ pounds of that bag to get enough nitrogen to cover 1,000 square feet of lawn. That’s about 13 cupfuls. If you use organic lawn fertilizer, you’ll have to refigure the amount to use because the numbers are different. If you can’t figure it out, lemme know and I’ll help.

Now how much is 1,000 square feet of lawn? Simple. Again, ask the kids to help. Remember the game of Simon Says? Well, just take 30 elephant-steps in one direction and then 30 elephant-steps in the other direction. The square that those steps describe will be real close to 1,000 square feet.

Now spread those 6.5+ pounds of fertilizer on those 1,000 square feet. Use half of it in one direction and half in the other direction if you can. As you’ll see, you won’t be able to see it, but it’s enough to do the job and if you got slow-release, it’ll last all summer. Ain’t that sumpthin’?

Organic lawn fertilizer may not last that long. Read the directions on the bag and see how long it’s supposed to last. You’ll probably have to repeat it at least once during the growing season.

Low Spots in the Yard

This might also be a good time to take care of that low spot in the yard.

Remember that spot over there where the grass died last year? That spot that was almost perfectly round?

It’s pretty easy to do, and now that you remember where it was and it hasn’t rained much, why not go ahead and fix it? Get some soil-mix called “top dressing.” It’s usually a mixture of sand and compost. If you can’t find top dressing, just get plain ol’ sand (called Play Sand if you buy it in bags).

Spread about a half-inch or so over the low spot — just remember to not cover the grass completely or you’ll smother it. The grass can then grow up through the sand or top dressing. After you mow next time, repeat this process and keep doing it until the low spot is level with the surrounding ground. Then, when it rains again, the water won’t stand there and drown the grass. Win-win.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Driving home yesterday, I saw bags and bags of leaves out by the street … what are we gonna do with all those stinkin’ leaves? Please don’t have them hauled to the dump. All the ones you sent last year are still there. Because they cover the bags with dirt, the sunlight can’t get to them and the bags don’t disintegrate like they would in your back yard, so they’re still there — some of them are several years old and there are literally thousands of bags of leaves in the landfill. It’s estimated that about 40-60 percent of the landfills are filled with leaves.

If you’ll just think for a minute, you’ll know what to do with them. How does Mother Nature handle this little situation? Simple, she does nothing … just lets them lay on the ground until they decompose. Nobody rakes the leaves in the woods, now do they? Nobody fertilizes the plants in the woods either, do they? Nobody waters the plants in the woods, do they? Then how come the trees and other plants come back every year? Mystery??? Nah. It’s just the recycling process in action.

Mother Nature knows that by recycling the leaves and twigs and animal droppings and other stuff that falls to the ground, the natural process is going to take care of the decomposition of it all and it will be turned back into a substance (compost) that the plants can use again. Almost all the nutrients taken up by the living things will be re-deposited for use again.

The best thing you can do with the leaves is to mow them and leave them on the ground. Even if you have to mow them 2-3 times, that’s OK. The finer the particles get, the faster they’ll decompose. If you’ll do this, you’ll find that in a couple of years your grass will be greener longer with less fertilizer and less water. Please!?!?!?